Teenage actor srays in blockbuster Brit film alongside stars

A TEENAGE boy from Yorkshire is set to star on the big screen.
Leeds actor Ben Radliffe at the premiere of the film with Chris O'Dowd.Leeds actor Ben Radliffe at the premiere of the film with Chris O'Dowd.
Leeds actor Ben Radliffe at the premiere of the film with Chris O'Dowd.

Ben Radcliffe, 15, who studies at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London during the week, returns home at weekends to Leeds.

Cuban Fury, which is out on St Valentine’s Day, is a homegrown romantic comedy that casts Nick Frost as a former salsa prodigy who’s fallen on hard times.

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He plays a young version of Nick Frost’s character who, as a 13-year-old champion salsa dancer about to explode on the scene in the UK Junior Salsa Championships, is attacked by a group of bullies who rob of him of his chance to show the world his snake hips and ultimately his confidence.

The film then jumps 22 years later to an older Nick Frost. He stars alongside actors Chris O’Dowd, Olivia Colman and Ian McShane.

Ben, from Little Preston, near Garforth, had professional salsa lessons everyday for three months before filming even began.

He said: “It was a completely brilliant experience and I’m very thankful for the opportunity, I met some great people and learnt a lot in the process.

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“It is very exciting seeing my face appearing on a big cinema screen, and I am very hopeful for the films overall success.

“The premiere at Leicester Square was a lot of fun.

“Although I missed my chance to walk down the red carpet because of tube strikes, I enjoyed meeting all the actors and crew at the after party.”

He said he was very interested in film-making as a career: “Seeing how professional film sets operate was very informative.

“One thing I didn’t enjoy, except for wearing the see-through sequin shirt, was wearing contact lenses. As I have different coloured eyes to Nick I had to wear contacts.”

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He said learning a new skill was very exciting, although some of the lessons were quite exhausting: “I had six weeks solid of rehearsals and it was not till the very end until I began to understand the unique style of Cuban salsa.

“It’s a very hard skill to learn, I had an advantage from already having training in other styles of dance although learning salsa was a very tough and enduring experience.

“I never really felt nervous on set.

“I did feel the slight pressure of the entire film crew relying on you, but there were many takes giving you lots of chances to get it right.”

In future Ben hopes to attend film school at 18 and study cinematography and aims to work in front or behind the camera.

Proud parents Vicky and John Radcliffe say they are thrilled. His mother said: “He has worked very hard for a long time.”

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